Retail and Fashion Technology Trends 2024

 I first heard about the phrase ‘cyber-tech movement’ in the ‘future of fashion’ social news XYZ digital magazine in March 2024. Since then, I have been on a journey to identify examples of this new phenomenon.

It isn’t a secret that technology has enhanced our world, and how we interact with each other daily, providing ease of conversation through smartphones, and quick purchasing power within ecommerce stores. All this together means fashion can be explored between people and computers, enhanced by technology to grow interactions. As technology evolves, so do consumers.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

Technologically driven subcultures such as gaming, avatars, and AR filters on social media channels such as Snapchat require fashion brands to monitor cultural moments and produce new styles to respond to ever changing trends.

In retail and fashion, technology means digitally and physically integrated clothing, producing a futuristic mindset. Merging ideas together was evident at the Coperni Fashion Show during Paris Fashion Week 2023, when ‘Spot,’ otherwise known as an automated robot showcased its use of removing clothing from models on the runway.  Improving the quality of clothing through LED lights by Japanese brand Anrealage, guided mobile light devices, transforming photochromic materials of clothing to ultraviolet rays, informed by pigments reacting to them by changing colour. In 2024 during London Fashion Week, ‘phygital’ (a.k.a. physical and digital clothing) made waves through brands such as Syky and John Irvings collections of clothing.

Emergence of celebrity / fashion / technology / public interpretation.

Luxury fashion has made its mark through the metaverse, playing host to the iconic Gucci House and Louis Vuitton world. Louis Vuitton (LV) luxury brand continues leading the way through its NFT phygital experience - allowing owners to have physical and digital copies of items, such as its newly released jacket. Louis Vuitton’s infamous USD$8,500 (GBP£6,800) jacket, as part of musician and brand ambassador Pharrell Williams collection, released digitally on-demand this week and will be released physically to a select 200 buyers between September – October 2024. This offers an insight into the future of luxury fashion, and VIP exclusivity. LV also host community and members areas on their Discord channel, again breaking social norms and providing services to multiple communities of people.

AR glasses by Meta received an upgrade recently, enabling customers to tap into more immersive experiences with the brand and interact / ask questions about their surroundings. What could this mean for fashion? Meta upgrading its user experience via Ray-Ban multi-model glasses will include the opportunity to incorporate an AI assistant to process photos, audio, and text information; key data that could be used within the fashion industry to make recommendations and automate processes.

RFID tagging clothing, possibility of changing rooms recommendations through RFID tag onto system, in fitting rooms – help with inventory / shipping / help with shrinkage. RFID tags – supermarkets - The power of RFID tags in retail was explored at the Retail Technology Show. Features including amazing store engagement and between different branches on social media channels was achieved. RFID gives a lot of data, making informed decisions and more intelligent buying. RFID can help with software components, returns online and in-store, making it more seamless.

Sportwear - running shoes – cloud tech – drilled holed, engineered holes into sole, advantage they close and give cushioning. Firm when landed. How technology can help design the perfect running shoe. On company sportswear company, computer simulation, bio-based materials to design sneakers to advance both runners and sustainability goals.

FEA – Finite analysis – machine learning – find solution. Give computer virtual foot and shoe, please do 100,000 million iterations on how we must form holes and place to make perfect experience.

Future of sneaker fashion. Sports is the new lifestyle – etc – think ‘Challengers’ and Tennis towards fashion and Zendaya showcasing her many looks in fashion.

Digital passports provide retailers with product description, material, and location sourced, a deeper role in supply chain understanding. Digital products aftercare and warranty into passport, and compliance through customer experience. Backend – inventory - frontend (marketing) – Gen AI through technology partner – third-party for retail. Customer Service.  Boom in AI since November 2022 when ChatGPT went public. NFC – Near-field communication enabled fashion – brands better connect with customers. Provide direct touch point communication channel for consumers. Physical goods to digital tokenised twins. Placed on blockchain network using NFC tags allowing journey of products to be told – leverage sustainability.

Fashion Meaning - means modern fashion, timeless pieces, and elements within ephemeral nature of fashion (short lived).

The rise of fashion during the industrial revolution included a capitalist economy and society as a sign of developed modernity. BIBA Kensington turned fashion of buying clothing as investment pieces into buying clothing to wear today, turning fashion into the now, and to be desired.

Stories about fashion are also told through fashion media, through our fashion practices and the clothes we wear. Take a look at any fashion media and it will tell a story about what and who is fashionable, what clothes we should buy, how we should look, and what is considered ‘sustainable’.

Fashion and style enable us as consumers to wear clothes that have different meaning in our everyday lives. Clothes are tools that help us to navigate our emotions, and feel our way through different seasons.

No one really knows why we decided as humans to wear clothing, was it to protect us, decorate us, or reflect some kind of societal norms? No one really knows. However, according to Andrew Brooks in his book ‘Clothing Poverty’, there are archaeological finds such as bone needles (for sewing hides and leathers) from at least 61,000 years ago in southern Africa. The oldest known woven garment is a linen shirt (known as the ‘Tarkhan dress’), believed to be around 5,000 years old, found in Egypt in 1913. These examples show how clothing began to change alongside human needs.

Economic and technological impacts include the silk cloth trade along the silk roads from China, via the middle East and Central Asia, to Europe; alongside the evolution of sportswear through the introduction of synthetic fibres. Societal shifts focus on class, gender, age and religion through clothing, explored through varying domestic markets worldwide and how this can be reflected in the design, production, and consumption of clothing.

Fashion Values and Cultures - the role of fashion as a powerful medium of voices and cultures around the world. ‘Heroin Chic’ of the 90’s, fashion intensifies life and culture in society, offering nostalgia and revitalisation overtime, adding new and exciting materials and ideas to clothing.

Origins of fashion refer to stories and exploration of materials, objects, ideas, and values that allow us to reflect on fashion as we know it today. Style can often be interpreted individually, customised depending on clothing chosen within a certain social setting and environment.

Capitalism and fashion have been emphasised through catwalk shows, models, glossy magazines, inspiring designs, rampant production, fast fashion and vloggers’ fashion hauls.

Overall, fashion is self-exploratory, and a form of self-expression, woven by style and concepts narrated by people, groups, and society together; with those exceptional beings who dare to unravel its meaning and create designs, from ideas using craftsmanship to style them.

Radical Innovation – this refers to physical elements of fashion and digital technology. For example, AI and ML shifting the landscape for better and worse. Ecommerce, and Mcommerce (a.k.a. Mobile Commerce) buying through digital devices, trying-on clothes in virtual environments, and the ability to shop online, enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technology Disruption – in recent times, social media has escalated buying habits on ecommerce and digital communication platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook – potentially increasing identity theft, account takeover, and scam activities. TikTok is currently facing a ban in the US for its mishandling of consumer data, while fast fashion giant Shein received heavy fines in 2022 for putting its customers data at risk during a data breach that took place in 2018, resulting in 39M account user logins being stolen.